TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'slice')

[eleaner]

Describe the bug
latest version of perplexica does not seem t owork for me

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. clone repo
2. go inside
3. run docker compose build
4. run docker compose up -d
5. configure litellm provider

Expected behavior
I would love to see search results

Screenshots
searxng seems to be working

but there are no results

every search adds the same problem
TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'slice')

Additional context
docker logs -f perplexica-perplexica-1
Starting SearXNG...
Waiting for SearXNG to be ready...
2026-01-03 00:06:39,792 ERROR:searx.engines: loading engine ahmia failed: set engine to inactive!
2026-01-03 00:06:39,994 ERROR:searx.engines: loading engine torch failed: set engine to inactive!

• Serving Flask app 'searx/webapp.py'
• Debug mode: off
  2026-01-03 00:06:40,879 ERROR:searx.botdetection: X-Forwarded-For nor X-Real-IP header is set!
  SearXNG started successfully (PID: 7)
  Starting Perplexica...
  ▲ Next.js 16.0.7
  • Local: http://238b0a097753:3000
  • Network: http://238b0a097753:3000

✓ Starting...
Running database migrations...
Applied migration: 0000_fuzzy_randall.sql
Applied migration: 0001_wise_rockslide.sql
Applied migration: 0002_daffy_wrecker.sql
Database migrations completed successfully
✓ Ready in 2.3s
TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'slice')
at Object.execute (.next/server/chunks/641.js:41:596)
at d.execute (.next/server/chunks/641.js:123:140)
at (.next/server/chunks/641.js:123:249)
at Array.map ()
at d.executeAll (.next/server/chunks/641.js:123:218)
at i.research (.next/server/chunks/641.js:541:988)
at async m.searchAsync (.next/server/app/api/chat/route.js:1:13218)
⨯ unhandledRejection: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'slice')
at Object.execute (.next/server/chunks/641.js:41:596)
at d.execute (.next/server/chunks/641.js:123:140)
at (.next/server/chunks/641.js:123:249)
at Array.map ()
at d.executeAll (.next/server/chunks/641.js:123:218)
at i.research (.next/server/chunks/641.js:541:988)
at async m.searchAsync (.next/server/app/api/chat/route.js:1:13218)

[ItzCrazyKns]

Could you confirm the perplexica version from the settings page, also which LLM and LLM provider are you using?

[eleaner]

Could you confirm the perplexica version from the settings page, also which LLM and LLM provider are you using?

Version: 1.12.1

I am proxying my LLMs through litellm
and you have a point, it looks like it is down to the response format
at leats by changing models I get different errors

I will test a bit and update

[ItzCrazyKns]

Please refer to this issue too #959

[eleaner]

Please refer to this issue too #959

I am not sure what should I do
pull the git repo and build the image
or fallback to gemini?

[eleaner]

built image seems to work with google/gemma-3-27b-it

at least